


Annabelle's Kink

by SprainedMyAnkleFlippingtheFirewall



Series: A Part of Your World (the Magnus Archives AU) [5]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, Multi, Other, Simultaneous Archivists Sasha James and Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist, avatar found family trope, how the team met, yes Annabelle is the mom no I will not be taking criticism at this time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:00:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29921382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SprainedMyAnkleFlippingtheFirewall/pseuds/SprainedMyAnkleFlippingtheFirewall
Summary: Ever since the head archivist of the Magnus Institute, Gertrude Robinson, was killed on the job, it has become common knowledge that a world scale ritual cannot succeed. In the city, avatars mostly coexist in peace while trying their best to avoid the attention of the more powerful organizations, alliances or cults. The politics of the avatar scene is hard enough to navigate without the Lukas/Fairchild/Magnus family shenanigans and the newly formed pro-human organization that is bent on killing off whatever monsters they can. Despite all of this, a certain Web avatar is determined to engage the one person she has set her eyes on, the Messiah of the Desolation, Agnes Montague.The balance will be difficult to maintain, but Miss Annabelle Cane has a ‘unique desire’ to satisfy, and she is certain that her skill set is perfectly suited to the job.Or: A group of Avatars Assemble because a Web avatar enjoys something she probably shouldn’t.
Relationships: Annabelle Cane & Agnes Montague, Annabelle Cane & Jane Prentiss, Annabelle Cane/Agnes Montague?
Series: A Part of Your World (the Magnus Archives AU) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2124258
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3
Collections: TMA Villains Week 2021





	1. Annabelle's Kink

**Author's Note:**

> This is technically a prequel to the tma au I have (link at the end), detailing how the avatar team in that story was initially formed, but this work can absolutely be read on its own.  
> If you came here from that story, I hope this work will provide another perspective and a deeper look on the team dynamics described there, if not, I hope it will be an enjoyable experience on its own.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A weaver reaches out to a Messiah

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no cws for this chapter

Agnes Montague was not at all difficult to track down. The easiest bit of digging could tell anyone who wanted to know that she would be at that same coffee shop every Tuesday afternoon. As for the next part, Annabelle Cane knew that she had only one shot at this conversation. Fail, and she would have nothing to keep the cult’s members off her back. Spider Webs can be oh so very fragile when the spinning is in its earliest phase, especially when faced with the Desolation. 

There was roughly an 80% chance that she would not be burned on the spot. Judging by the events on Hilltop Road some years ago, it seemed equally likely that Agnes had enjoyed her interaction with the Mother as been put off by it. Well, maybe enjoyed wouldn’t be the right word, ‘interested’ perhaps. The Web was, after all, one of the few things in Agnes’ childhood that wasn’t directly linked to her ‘identity’, or her destiny. Like ‘one black coffee with room for milk’, or the ordinary people she watched from afar, or that one guy she dated, the Web belonged to a different world that she could not reach. Not without some help.

Of course, trust would be difficult to gain, considering the Mother’s part in disrupting the cult’s earlier ritual attempts, but Annabelle had been watching for a while now, and since Gertrude’s death, she had not found Agnes in a rush to complete what had been delayed. The Messiah was deliberating, torn between pushing on with the ritual (that might not even succeed, if the rumors were correct) and giving herself up entirely, neither of which she seemed keen on doing. 

It would be dangerous to put herself on the cult’s radar like this. But at the end of the day, Annabelle knew she had to take the chance. The risk was high, and so was the reward.

The sky was a bright cloudless blue on the day when the first threads were set in place. 3pm. The weaver did not hesitate as she walked over to the Messiah of the Lightless Flame. 

“Hey, do you mind if I take this seat?”

Agnes shook her head, turning her posture ever so slightly to face the new arrival, her eyes still focused on the street and the passersby. 

“Annabelle’s the name.”

“So, Annabelle, what do you want.”

The candidness was not at all unexpected. It wasn’t as if Annabelle had attempted to be subtle.

“I want to get to know you. And I want to offer a way out, if you would like.”

In reply, honesty was obviously the most appropriate aesthetic. 

“Why?”

To the average ear, this question was as distant and nonchalant as any words Agnes had spoken, but Annabelle could hear the slight strain in her voice as she tried to remain uninterested. 

“You probably won’t believe me. But...I would like to be your friend. And I think that it’s a nice thing to do, offering a friend something they might want.”

“To meddle with my choice then.”

“A choice is only good when one can see the whole picture. And perhaps, there are choices I can offer that you would like better than what you have right now.” Annabelle spoke with sincerity. It was the truth, after all. 

“What’s in it for you?” Agnes was looking directly into her eyes now, and for all that Annabelle had heard about this woman, the force of that unchannelled energy, infinitely powerful yet adrift without direction, and behind it all the tiny spark of longing that she fought to quell, all of it still startled her. It was beautiful, in that quiet, sorrowful kind of way.

“An experience. A friend.” And powerful ally. And of course, the thrill of fulfilling that pleasure that she would never admit outloud.

“That’s not the whole story. It never is with you people.”

Annabelle smiled, knowing that she had succeeded. Leaning forward slightly, she gently moved to complete the final touches of the first thread,

“Maybe not, but does that matter?”

She left her contact information down on a napkin the neighboring table had kindly delivered to them, before getting up to leave, taking with her the half finished cup of coffee she had gotten directly from the waiter.

“If you want to see me again, let me know, and I’ll be by next Tuesday. If before then you deem me as a threat, I trust my address won’t be at all difficult to find. In case that happens, I’d like to say that it was nice meeting you in person, and it felt nice to be honest, for whatever that’s worth.”

By next Tuesday, there was text. A single word.

Come.

At first, the meetings took place in the coffee shop, sometimes they sat in silence with the weaver scrolling through her phone while the Messiah studied the passing crowd. Occasionally, a few questions would be brought up, and Annabelle would join in with the people watching/analyzing. Sometimes, when Agnes seemed to welcome it, Annabelle would talk about herself. On their third meeting, Agnes began initiating these questions.

“Do you remember what it was like before?”

“I do. I cut contact with my family afterwards, but sometimes bits and pieces of the old life come back. Like when you catch a particular smell and it draws out an earlier memory. Though it’s hard to say whether there was truly a ‘before’. It feels a lot like I’ve always been part of the Web, or always meant to be.”

“Hmm. Is that why you want to…‘be my friend’?”

“Not really, it’s still a distinctly different situation from yours and I can’t say I relate. But...who's to say if that was part of the reason.”

...

“I would have thought the Web avatars would be certain about why they did things.”

“Perhaps. But I can’t say I am in any more control than those that I feed on.”

“Of course, you’re also part of it, answering to its wishes without receiving explanation.”

“We all are. Part of it.” the words slipped out before she could hold them back, and Annabelle looked up to check the other’s reaction, but Agnes was smiling, looking down at the coffee on the table.

“Yes. We are.” her voice was quieter, and for a moment Annabelle almost wished she’d be angry instead. But...that wouldn’t be Agnes (not yet at least). There was a resignation about her that stood in stark contrast to her power, not necessarily a tendency to give up or despair, but simply the lack of a drive, a desire to reach for a different ending than the one she had always known.

“Do you want me to be angry?” the Messiah smiled up at her, and Annabelle started a little, wondering if something in her expression had given the thought away.

“Why would you think that?”

“I read sometimes. I heard a story once, about a man who kept dripping ink onto a fly in the hopes of watching it break free with its own efforts, so he could feel some semblance of...hope, I suppose, or strength? Empowerment? When the fly failed, and eventually died, the man was terribly sad. It must be even more disappointing if the fly were to not struggle at all.”

“Katherine Mansfield.” 

“Hm. I’m not very good with author names.” 

They were looking directly into each other’s eyes now, one of them reaching for the flames in the other. 

“Maybe I should. Do it. You know. Burn up the entire world, or sacrifice myself trying, if they were right about it not being able to succeed. Maybe I should be angry. I should show the human race the Glory of what I am, what the Lightless Flame can be. That sounds like something a proper Messiah should do.”

Annabelle nodded, leaning forward slightly, but made no response. She couldn’t focus on Agnes’ face anymore, could only stare as those pupils reflected to her the song of that Desolate world. 

And the fire was gone in the next blink of her eyes. Not put out, but farther away. Burning somewhere deeper. 

“I don’t feel it though. I don’t want it. It would be a lie, and I hate to lie to myself. I don’t want anything really. But better the colorless truth than some half-hearted performance.” 

There they sat in silence. For anyone else, this would be the moment to reach out and take their hand, but not for her. 

The next meeting, after hypothesizing about the girl arguing into her phone across the street, and going into a tangent about one of Annabelle’s psychology essays in college, Agnes asked if they could take a walk through the city.

“Where do you want to go?” Annabelle asked, picking up the rest of her strawberry cake. She no longer received nourishment from human food but found the taste still good as ever.

“Where do people usually go?”

“I wouldn’t know. It’s been a while since I’ve been ‘people’.”

“Then where do you usually go?”

Side by side they leaned against the water fountain, still some distance apart so that Agnes’ heat would not be a problem. Annabelle reached over and placed her hand into the waves, feeling their rhythm as the water was pulled to the center to be sprayed out over and over. 

“I’m not usually one for urban exploring, but I thought the internet might be boring for you.”

“You go online a lot?”

“Yes, it’s mostly what I do now.”

“Why this place in particular?”

“I like the way the patterns go, here, on the sides.” Annabelle drew her hand back, and traced the twisting marble lines decorating the rim of the fountain, leaving a trail of water with her fingers.

Agnes laughed, looking over with an almost mischievous look in her eyes,

“You’re _enjoying_ this.”

Annabelle did not reply.

“All of this, talking with me, telling me stuff about yourself, stuff about the world that I didn’t know before. You know, for an avatar of the Web, it’s pretty strange that you enjoy untangling people from the threads that they are in-”

At this, Annabelle looked up, smiling softly, and raised a finger to her lips. Agnes fell silent, but she had seen the affirmation deep within the weaver’s eyes.

The next day, the Messiah left the cult. Allegedly she gave no real reason. She just up and left. Obviously, that conversation did not go well at all, but it’s not like they could do anything to stop her, nor could they touch the weaver, now that she had Agnes for a friend. For the most part she broke contact, but she still maintained a close relationship with Jude Perry, perhaps the only one of them who had cared for her as a person and not just as a symbol.

Word spread among the avatars in the city, and theories arose as to whether it was truly Annabelle’s influence, or if Agnes had always wanted to leave, and was just waiting for the right opportunity, or some chance encounter that could provide a reason, an excuse. Rumors also popped up about whether it was a part of some larger game of the Web’s, the first move of some elaborate plan. Agnes herself paid no attention to such speculations, knowing full well they were not what mattered the most. 

Annabelle, on the other hand, didn’t really have a choice but to pay close attention to all of these things. The Lightless Flame, she thought, did not seem as devastated by this turn of events as she had expected. They _were_ devastated, yes, but got back into action pretty quick, almost as if they had a ready-formed backup plan in case this happened. She was safe from them for now, but she would still need to keep a closer eye on their movement. 

As for the rest of the gossip, she knew from their volume that she had become much more visible in the eyes of ordinary avatars and powerful organizations alike, as predicted. 

It would be time to gather some potential allies, and perhaps, form a group of her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Annabelle Cane I love you  
> Agnes Montague I love you  
> yes that is all


	2. The Archivists

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabelle gathers some potential allies and a very existential conversation with Agnes occurs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> cw: existential dread, helplessness (possibly)

The idea of a group made up by avatars of different entities came to Annabelle soon after she’d won the gamble with Agnes.

It wasn’t like anything that already existed in the local area and even in other places that she’d heard of. And it had the potential of being very powerful. Yet, like with Agnes, it would carry a huge risk, not to mention all the work of maintaining the balance with all of the entities that she was going to gather members from.

As for the three main powers that had large influence in the city, the Fairchilds would be mindful of the existence of such a group, but probably wouldn’t care about one of their avatars joining; the Lukas’ were the same (though she doubted any Lonely avatars would come within any measurable distance of an ‘organization’); Jonah Magnus presented a somewhat bigger problem, but there were too many unknown factors with that one to be sure. 

Most Dark avatars already belonged with the Cult. She knew Callum Brody could be a potential choice, but he was still a bit on the young end. Anyone from the Circus or the Spiral was out of the question, too much chaos in the beginning stages of this group would only cause trouble later on. The Flesh and Slaughter did also have cults, but they mostly worked in places far away from the city. 

Most of the other avatars did not belong to any organization, and she was unsure how willing they would be to associate. 

It shouldn’t be too difficult. For one thing, she knew that protection from the Flame would be very tempting for any potential members. Besides, she already had some good choices from the Magnus Institute.

Though her passing was unfortunate, Gertrude Robinson had done one thing to make sure that Jonah’s plan to bring all 14 through a single ritual would be significantly harder to carry out. She had made sure, in the event of her early death, that there would be two Archivists as her successor, sharing the eye’s power, and greatly increasing the efficiency of navigating the entire situation.

From when she had just become an avatar, Annabelle had been instructed by the Mother to aid Sasha James and Jonathan Sims in foiling Jonah’s plan. She wagered that their history together would earn her the trust she needed.

Getting to Jon was slightly easier, in addition to helping with the investigations, being a patient listener when he was struggling with his identity as a monster/human warmed him up to the idea of being a part of a group of avatars.

Sasha on the other hand, seemed to be more actively distancing herself from the world of the fears, although that could as well be a way to divert attention from the actual investigative work she was doing for the Institute. She worked mostly outside the archives, going out on investigations, exploring ways to utilize her power for ‘good’. Naturally, Sasha was less inclined to join a group of avatars, but never opposed it directly. Eventually, the both of them agreed to the idea. 

Ultimately, Annabelle knew that both Archivists understood if Jonah (or anyone else for that matter) was planning something big, they’ll need allies for when that shit goes down.

Annabelle and Agnes were still on good terms, though in moments of closeness she could feel a barrier that she may never truly cross. Agnes was distant, even from her own emotions, and would probably be like that with most people, close enough to behold but always some way off, a reflection in the mirror, untouchable. The messiah had stayed on good terms with Jude, though they never talked for long. 

Sometimes when Agnes was absentmindedly staring into the streets, Annabelle would wonder if she really knew her at all, if anyone ever could. She knew that the marks that the cult’s upbringing had left would always remain.

And the few moments when Annabelle truly felt the hint of a connection, it always startled her.

“Why are you invested in keeping the world the way it is?”

They were sat on the sofa in Annabelle’s living room, the weaver had been filling Agnes in on her past assistance of the Archivists.

“The Web was never far from this world.”

“Hmm, I suppose not.”

“We’re quite content with the way things are. It suits our purposes well.”

“Annabelle.” Agnes turned sharply to fully face her, and the weaver knew from that flash in her eyes that an idea had just occurred.

“Is this-is this world after the Web’s ritual succeeded?”

Annabelle smiled softly, 

“Does that thought scare you?”

Agnes was perfectly still. A second later, she nodded once.

“Me too.” Annabelle admitted.  _ Though it would make no different really. _

“To be honest, I don’t know. But that could as well be a part of it. And...even if I did know, and this world is actually the Web’s...that would bring nobody any closer to changing things.” She admitted.

“Annabelle I-”

“It’s okay.” she had never seen Agnes so visibly stressed, even if it was just that slightest tremor in her voice, and it awoke in her an urge to protect that she had never thought possible.

“It’s...yea.” Agnes was looking down at her hands

“The thought’s never crossed my mind before, I was shocked, that’s all.” There were few situations in which the Messiah would find herself helpless, and it was no surprise that she would not take easily to this possibility. 

Annabelle wanted more than anything to reach out. Skin contact not being possible, she called with her words instead.

“Agnes. Look at me.”

She did. 

“Can you imagine a world where the Web did not rule, or, supposing this is already it, a world where the Web was not as influential as it is right now?”

“I suppose...it’s hard. It’s possible though. So what, we imagine a way out? But...that might as well be part of its overall...everything.”

Annabelle held her gaze, her smile betraying a hint of sadness,

“It might. But if you think it’s worth something, then it’s worth doing. The Web, um, the Web (god it was hard to force the words out) does not equal actual physical control of everything, it’s about what is perceived in the mind. Sometimes not even that, but just the fear of it.”

“Why are you helping me take apart your own world? Assuming this is really the reality after the Web has succeeded.”

_ I don’t want to see you distressed like this. _

“All a bit of speculatory fun. It’s only natural that an avatar of the Web would know where the loophole is.”  _ It’s here. It’s right here where we sit and I look at you and you look back and I feel that connection, and I probably shouldn’t...but I look and I know that whether this world is the aftermath of any ritual is not what matters. _

“But basically yea, that’s why the Web doesn’t really want a ritual, there’s a lot of its aesthetics in reality already.” Annabelle shrugged, pulling the conversation back to their original topic.

The Messiah held her gaze for a few seconds of silence, before she slowly nodded, and was gone again to a world that Annabelle could not reach. 

She ran into Jane Prentiss only a few weeks later as she was making her way to the Magnus Institute for final negotiations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately there's no space to expand on the designs for the Archivists and how they function, if I ever get around to editing the fic I wrote for that I may publish it as a seperate thing (I have a lot of hcs about how Sasha would be in this au and I just wanted to shout that into the void lol).


End file.
